What's better than a five-time league MVP Peyton Manning? A Peyton Manning made of chocolate, naturally.

Its creator, Tim King, is a professional sculptor from Longmont, Colorado. He's sculpted all sorts of things, including a Christmas ornament for President George W. Bush in 2012.

He had no experience sculpting an NFL icon -- until now:

The sculpture of the Broncos superstar is 30 percent larger than life-sized and will be featured at an event called Choctober Fest in Colorado.

Creating the sculpture is a lengthy process, estimated to take about a month. King started with a clay mold, then cast that mold in plaster. Once cured, the entire thing will be sprayed in liquid chocolate.

"I wouldn't want Peyton's arm to fall off right before the festival," King said in his interview with Fox 31 Denver.

If the real Peyton Manning, set to begin his 18th season in the NFL, is any precedent, King has little reason for concern.

It all started when he was asked if his Instagram post was meant to call out the Bulls.

"Of course not. ... I didn't even make the picture; some other little guy made the picture so I just took it. ... And I said we'd beat 'em by 50. And that's how I feel and I'm sticking to it. I didn't say: 'Hey at Scottie Pippen, we'll beat you guys by 50. Hey, at Rodman we'll beat you guys by [50].' I just said, 'I'll beat you by 50.'"

This is where Pippen went wrong, according to Shaq. O'Neal explains:

"He made it personal when he said, 'Oh, at Shaq, hey I don't believe in hypotheticals.' So he swung first, so I'm going to swing second, and I'm going to swing last. Because I don't let bums disrespect me.

"Yeah, he was a great player, but I'm the bridge, he's the water. He will always be under me. Every now and then he will rise to the occasion and get to the same level as the bridge. But when reality kicks in, I am bridge, he is water, he is under me. Scottie Pippen can't disrespect me. So he comes at me, I'm coming back. And we can do this all day, because I have nothing to do."

Shaq wasn't done.

"He made it personal when he put 'At Shaq, we've got six rings,' like he was the main focus of the six rings. You were not the main focus of the six rings. Don't make me put out the scouting report. He wasn't even a factor in the scouting report. It was all about [Michael Jordan]. ... You double Mike, Scottie was open, Scottie hit a couple shots."

Still not done.

"Let's just talk reality. When you say top 10 players, his name will never be mentioned. When you say top 20 players, his name maybe will be mentioned. So don't come to me like I'm not a player. ... You're a Benz, you're a 550. I'm a 600, V-12. OK?"

At this point, O'Neal was asked if he really meant "bum." His response?

"Bum."

Then:

"Think about why I'm saying 'bum.' Because I have the G-14 classification to say that. Everybody can't say that about a Scottie Pippen, but I can. ... I can say he's a bum."

"I don't. ... He was cool, respectful and all that. But he made it personal when he came at me, flashing his six rings like he was the main, main factor of the six rings. Stop it, Scottie. We all know you were second fiddle. You'll always be second fiddle. ... You're Robin. you're not Batman. You're not Puffy, you're Mase."

Was Shaq a Robin?

"Yeah, towards the end."

But ...

"Three Finals MVPs ain't got Robin on it. Robin Hood [maybe]."

Then O'Neal went back in on Pippen. At this point, if we'd been tagging these with fire emoji, we'd be out.

"When Michael left, you didn't do nothing. All you did was cry and whine when Phil [Jackson] didn't give you the last shot. He gave it to Toni Kukoc, who was a much better player than you. Toni Kukoc hit the game[-winning] shot. When you left and went to Houston, what did you do? Nothing. When you left and went to Portland, what did you do? Oh yeah, you took us to a Game 7 ... up by 17 in the fourth quarter, what happened? You lose."

The story of Vin Baker can be seen as a sad one: A former big man for the Milwaukee Bucks, Seattle SuperSonics and other teams -- he of four straight All-Star appearances and one 20-and-10 season -- fell into alcoholism and ended up losing nearly $100 million.

But that story is far from over, and it's taken a significant and positive turn.

As profiled by the Providence Journal, the 43-year-old Connecticut native is now living in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, and training to be a manager at the Starbucks for which he works.

"In this company, there are opportunities for everyone," the 6-foot-11 Baker told the paper. "I have an excellent situation here at Starbucks, and the people are wonderful."

As for the people who view his story as tragic, Baker was quick to downplay that notion. He isn't running away from it, either; he wants people to learn from his mistakes.

"When you learn lessons in life, no matter what level you're at financially, the important part to realize is it could happen," he told the Journal. "I was an alcoholic. I lost a fortune. I had a great talent and lost it. For the people on the outside looking in, they're like, 'Wow.'

"For me, I'm 43, and I have four kids. I have to pick up the pieces. I'm a father. I'm a minister in my father's church. I have to take the story and show that you can bounce back. If I use my notoriety in the right way, most people will appreciate that this guy is just trying to bounce back in his life."

There's much more in Kevin McNamara's piece on Baker, who recently worked with the Bucks coaching staff at the Las Vegas Summer League, thanks to an invite from Jason Kidd.

"Could I take Jordan? Where's this going? Can I wear my Hickory uniform? Boy, that'd be a good game," Bird said, before offering the goods:

"I hate to admit this, but he'd kill me. ... I'm 40 pounds more than I was when I played, I'm broken-down, I really don't care like I used to, I have a fight in me but it's not the fight that I once had ... but it'd be a pretty close game."

Ah, there's the trash-talker we know and love, unable to fully commit to the idea of getting killed on the court by a rival.

This came as part of a larger conversation based on Jordan's comments from June, in which he said he was "pretty sure" he could beat the members of his Charlotte Hornets one-on-one.

Bird was having none of that, by the way. When he heard Jordan said he could beat his players now, Bird offered a big laugh.

"Now?" he said. "Oh, gee. Come on.

"He can believe whatever he wants. ... He'd have to prove that to me. Man, [star athletes have] to let this stuff go. ... That's just ridiculous."

Bird was also asked if he was ever better than someone who was on his roster while he coached the Pacers (from 1997 to 2000, when he was 40-43).

"I don't know about that," he said.
And what about shooting?

"Oh yeah. Oh God yeah. Standing still, shooting? Ain't no problem."

Still, he said, he was never the best shooter while he coached the Pacers.

"Nah, Reggie [Miller] was here, Chris Mullin, Sam Perkins; they had some pretty good shooters."